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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. pop — soda
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. file — a line of people
  5. chest — a box
  6. chest — of your body
  7. pop — to visit
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. craft — a skill
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. mine — for digging
  12. chest — of your body
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. bat — the animal
  15. file — a document
  16. pop — music
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. file — a tool
  19. craft — boats
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. fork — in a road
  23. fan — to cool the air
  24. bat — for baseball

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com